Impact and Epidemiological Investigations into the Incursion and Spread of Peste des Petits Ruminants in the Comoros Archipelago: An Increased Threat to Surrounding Islands

Abstract

Late October 2012, a great number of deaths of unknown origin occurred in goat herds in the suburbs of Ngazidja, located in the Comoros archipelago. Few weeks later, laboratory testing requested by the animal health authorities resulted in the identification of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) infection. Notably, the Index case could be attributed to a sick goat imported from Tanzania. Viral isolation was successful from the lungs leading to the whole N nucleoprotein gene sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain belongs to the lineage III which includes strains of eastern African origin. In addition, to evaluate the impact of PPR on the Comorian indigenous domesticated ruminant population, a cross-sectional PPR serological survey was conducted between April and July 2013. A low overall PPRV antibody prevalence 2.24% (95% CI [1.38; 3.08]) was detected with a Grande Comore prevalence of 3.34% (IC = [2.09; 4.63]) with a limited spread of the disease mainly due to farm practices such as limited contacts between farm animals and rapid slaughtering of sick animals.

Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation for Mapping the Risk of Occurrence of Peste des Petits Ruminants in Eastern Africa and the Union of the Comoros

“…In the Union of the Comoros, our model shows a good performance, although only few data from the 2012 outbreak were available. The 2012 outbreak was rapidly controlled, thanks to farmer practices, who slaughtered animals as soon as the first clinical signs were described by the animal health local authorities (24). These control measures limited the spread of PPR, and no outbreaks were reported in some areas identified at risk by our model (Figure 2).…”

“…PPR is nowadays widely spread in the whole of Africa and is endemic in most eastern African countries (2,23). In the Comoros archipelago, located in the Northern Mozambique Channel about 300 km of the southern coast of Tanzania (Figure 1), the first PPR outbreak occurred in 2012 (24). According to the results of phylogenetic analyses, this outbreak could be due to the introduction of goats infected by PPRV lineage III from the African continent (24).…”

“…In the Comoros archipelago, located in the Northern Mozambique Channel about 300 km of the southern coast of Tanzania (Figure 1), the first PPR outbreak occurred in 2012 (24). According to the results of phylogenetic analyses, this outbreak could be due to the introduction of goats infected by PPRV lineage III from the African continent (24). Although the outbreak was rapidly under control, the risk of re-emergence of PPRV remains high since the Union of the Comoros has strong livestock trading relationships with the African continent, importing large and small ruminants all year round (25).…”

History and current status of peste des petits ruminants virus in Tanzania

“…The risk of further spread outside of Tanzania to neighboring countries, for example, Zambia, is high ( 14 ). Spread has already occurred to the Comoros Islands, a group of volcanic islands located east of Tanzania and Mozambique and northwest of Madagascar ( 37 ). In November 2012, a higher number of deaths than normal occurred in goat herds in the Comoros Islands.…”

First complete genome sequence of parainfluenza virus 5 isolated from lesser panda

“…Recently, paramyxoviruses have been found to have a global presence and to be prevalent in several countries [17][18][19]. Novel paramyxoviruses that can spread among different species have resulted in outbreaks in animals [20,21].…”